Microsoft's Biggest Mobile Problem Isn't That It's Late, It's That The Phones Aren't That Great

The new Windows
Phone operating system is clearly better than Android
(to the critics*), and yet it's falling flat on its face. What
gives?

A number of pundits are weighing in on the problem, but we think
they're missing the simple problem: Microsoft's phones and
operating system just aren't that good.

Ex-Microsoftie Charlie Kindel
blames carriers and phone makers for Android's success and
Microsoft's failure. He says carriers like how open Android is,
so they can do what they want. He also thinks phone makers hate
having to deal with Microsoft's specific hardware
guidelines.

Probably not. And the reason people won't say they're too late is
that both of them should bring something fresh and exciting to
the table, otherwise there's no point.

In Facebook's case, it will be deep social integration, as well
as access to the applications being built on its platform.

In Amazon's case, well, we're not really sure, to be honest.
Maybe it's an extension of the Kindle
Fire platform, maybe it's something super radical like free
wireless service, or something more benign like a super cheap
price.

Amazon
entered the tablet market and made a splash. We think it would do
the same if it entered the smartphone market.

And that's really the biggest problem with Microsoft's phones.
There has been no splash. There has been nothing special. Sure,
Microsoft gets some critical hosannas, but those people are
really damning the company with faint praise.

Not a single review of the Windows Phone mentions some
game-changing feature from Microsoft. They all say, (in essence),
"Hey Microsoft made a pretty darn good phone."

There's absolutely nothing about Microsoft's phone that makes you
sit up and say, "Holy crap! That's uhhh-mazing. I HAVE TO GET
IT."**

The crazy thing about this is that Microsoft controls ~95% of the
desktop computing market, and Xbox is the
leading gaming system (in the U.S., at least, which is a pretty
huge market).

And yet, with those two sizable advantages Microsoft didn't build
a single feature that makes consumers think, "I absolutely must
get a Windows phone." Sure it's integrated Xbox Live, and One
Note and Office, but none of those integrations have been
impressive enough to win over consumers.

**Siegler
mentions this in his criticism of Windows Phone -- "You need
to present a product so good that
people have to buy it. Windows Phone isn’t
close to being that." -- but he doesn't think it's the main
problem.